Set aside for a moment everything you've come to expect about the way Americans elect their Presidents. File away, just for a minute or two, everything you know about the election "season" and the primary process and momentum and debates and political advertising.
We can start electing our Democratic President in 2008 now -- long before we even know the name, race or gender of our eventual nominee. And the DCCC can play a pivotal role in making it happen.
Join me below the fold for a brief discussion of marketing, message management, and the American voter.
There's a sign in the offices of my marketing firm that reads, "Validate Their Trust" -- a reminder to the entire staff that every day, we must earn our clients' trust over and over again and reinforce their decision to entrust the business growth to us.
What if Democrats wanted to validate voters' trust?
Imagine this for a moment...
Every week, the DCCC produces a new "commercial" message -- a 60-second television "week in review," perhaps featuring a Democratic Congressional leader, that essentially says this:
In November of 2006, American voters placed their trust in Democrats all over the country. You enlisted us as agents of change. We made a promise to you, and tonight, and I'd like to update you on our progress toward fulfilling those promises.
The remaining 45 seconds would detail the positive things that Democrats have done, in keeping with all of our promises on the campaign trail. For instance...
We promised to guarantee a reasonable living wage for all hard-working Americans, and we're proud that after a decade of Republican stonewalling, we were able this week to raise the minimum wage...
And so on.
Every week -- a new, powerful message. But it has to reach beyond Democratic circles. Maybe it's a TV "roadblock" -- a strategy where you buy the exact same time slot on every network, thereby "roadblocking" the viewer no matter what station they're on.
However we get the message out, we'd need to keep a positive tone, void of the partisan rhetoric that disgusts voters during the election cycle.
In psychological circles, it's the equivalent of "positive reinforcement" -- rewarding the behavior you'd like to see repeated. "Validate Their Trust," in marketing circles, is not unlike Pavlov's dog getting the treat when he rings the bell.
Sending a "thank you" card for the Christmas gifts you just got is positive reinforcement even more than it a gesture of appreciation.
Unfortunately, it's a concept largely lost in politics. Elections come once every twenty-four months, and so the "salesmen" only pitch their products when it's time to "buy." Businesses who do this -- who advertise only when they're having a sale, for instance -- fail.
But if Democrats had the money and the will to do this -- to go back to the voters once a week and essentially "Validate Their Trust" -- it would accomplish a number of goals simultaneously:
1. Engage voters in the political process
2. Keep them better informed than either the media or campaign commercials would later
3. Position us as leaders who are more interested in action than words
4. Position us as promise-keepers who take our mandate seriously
5. Accentuate the differences between "us" and "them"
Would it be expensive? Yes. But it would also encourage off-cycle fundraising.
The cumulative effect of two years of this kind of leadership would, in my opinion, have a huge impact on our ability to elect a Democratic president. We would be the party of the people again -- instead of just the lesser of two evils when Republicans inevitably piss voters off.
I'm interested in your thoughts...